Rand Paul Establishment Derangement Syndrome

Over the past two years, a new political illness has broken out and infected establishment Republicans since Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has risen in prominence.

When I say establishment, I am referencing the RINOs who are constantly complaining about the Tea Party, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the idea of fighting for any issue of importance to the conservative movement. We all know a squishy Republican who fits that description.

More specifically, there are a handful of self-appointed guardians of the Republican Party who shudder at the thought of Rand Paul heading the Republican ticket next fall. They have a bad case of what I call “Rand Paul Derangement Syndrome.”

In the past week, this affliction has mutated and now is spreading like a pandemic. The cause was Sen. Paul’s victory in scaling back President Obama’s NSA spying program.

Just take a look at the latest from Michael Gerson of the Washington Post. Gerson may have the most advanced case.

Gerson is a former speechwriter and policy staffer for President George W. Bush. According an insightful Op Ed from an old coworker of Gerson that appeared in The Atlantic in 2007, Gerson is the quintessential self-promoting DC political hack. Evidently, his self-love motivated him to stage a reality political event for reporters where he claimed to write one of President George W. Bush’s famous speeches in a Starbucks in longhand on a pad of paper. According to this coworker, it was all a show.

When not making believe to be writing presidential speeches, Gerson was known to use his skills to create misleading talking points.

During the lead up to the Iraq War, Gerson was credited with creating a talking point for President Bush’s White House Iraq Group that was fool proof. He argued that the first sign of a “smoking gun” that Iraq had nukes, “might be a mushroom cloud.” It was a stroke of brilliance to argue that the United States didn’t need evidence, because fear was enough to get the American people terrified sufficiently to support another war

No worries for a guy like Gerson that the nukes never actually existed in Iraq. And why be concerned that Republicans running for President, including Gerson’s former boss’ brother Jeb Bush, are running away from the Gerson crafted talking points that lead us to the Iraq war.

Gerson’s latest Paul hit piece is titled “The Romance with Rand Paul is Gone.” He is very upset that Senator Rand Paul feels strongly about the 4th Amendment to the Constitution and the natural right of privacy. Guys like Gerson don’t believe in any right to privacy for the content of calls, hospital records or bank records.

Jen Rubin who writes the misnamed column “Right Turn” for the Washington Post is another self appointed thought leader who loves to bash Rand Paul. Rubin was apoplectic with Sen. Paul this past week when she wrote “The GOP is serious about national security. Rand Paul isn’t.” Rubin ranted that Paul had “chosen to be an inflammatory acolyte of his father” and “not a serious presidential contender.”

I had the unfortunate experience of having to deal with Rubin when I worked for Senator Paul as Sr. Communications Director. Rubin has a hard time with facts and she is insufferable.

Rare reported last year “Rubin mentioned Paul’s name 147 times from April 1-20. She only mentioned Obama 131 times (not including ‘Obamacare,’ but just President Obama or his administration specifically).” I expect those numbers were very similar over this past month as Rubin melted down over Rand Paul’s latest filibuster for the Bill of Rights. I don’t know for sure, because I stopped reading her columns a long time ago.

Every day Rubin is allowed to write her meanderings at the Washington Post, the reputation of that once great paper diminishes.

Finally, there is the make believe candidate for President, Rep. Peter King (R-NY). King is known for being the guy who can’t conduct an interview without attacking Sen. Rand Paul. If Rand Paul didn’t exist, he would have a big hole in his life, and nobody would ever book him on cable news shows. Rep. King loves to hate Rand Paul and he has an advanced case of the Rand Paul Derangement Syndrome.

I bet when Michael Gerson burns the toast in the morning, he blames Rand Paul. When Jen Rubin encounters a Republican who dares to utter negative comment about the presidency of George W. Bush, she blames Paul. When Peter King loses an argument on cable, which happens quite often event though he seldom debates anybody, he believes the cause is a Rand Paul disinformation campaign.

As Rand Paul rises in the polls, expect these three to get more agitated and red in the face angry. They are beyond help and can’t be saved.Sadly, there is no cure and the best way to deal with these people is to ignore them.